Sea-monkey Business

December 28, 2000|By JENNIFER HUGET; Special to The Courant

The Amazing Live Sea-Monkey is 40 this year -- a pretty good run for a toy that promises so much and delivers so little.

Just ask any kid who's had faith that, after he mixes the packet of powder in water, and waits, and feeds, and aerates, he'll wind up with a tank of creatures that look like the infamous, crowned-and-sceptered cartoon characters on the box.

Never mind that those royal figures themselves don't look anything like monkeys. The actual Sea-Monkey in the tank is as far from simian as, well, a shrimp.

Which, of course, is exactly what a Sea-Monkey is. A brine shrimp. The kind you use for fish food. In fact, that's just what Harold von Braunhut set out to concoct in his laboratory one day in 1957. Legend has it that when he mixed up his batch of brine shrimp eggs and water, he felt the tiny creatures smiling at him.

The first so-called Sea-Monkeys were sold in 1960, advertised in the back of comic books as ``Instant Life'' and costing 49 cents. The Sea-Monkey moniker superseded the ``Instant Life'' billing in the late '60s, and the fanciful king-and-queen illustrations appeared in 1972.

Susan Barclay is a fan and not afraid to say so. She has craved them since she was 5 and her girlfriend was allowed to order them from an Archie comic book. Little Susan had to settle for Magic Rocks. Fifteen years later, Barclay finally bought a tank of her own. Nowadays, Barclay, who lives in Chilliwack, British Columbia, always has at least one tank going, and she even takes her Sea-Monkeys along when she travels.

``They're classic Americana,'' she says. ``They're like Etch A Sketch, ViewMaster and PEZ dispensers. They can be slightly tacky in the wrong hands, but really fun in the right ones.''

In 1996 she created what she believes to be the first Sea-Monkey ``worship'' Web site: http://users.uniserve.com/sbarclay/seamonk.htm. To Barclay, much of the Sea-Monkey charm lies in the name: ``It's so funny,'' she says. ``The word `monkey' is hilarious to begin with. I mean, `instant brine shrimp' is so boring, but `instant Sea-Monkey' is hilarious.''

Sea-Monkeys, she says, offer ``the three `ables': they're adorable, portable, and disposable.'' And something else. ``To me, it has to do with having the power of life and death over a small colony of your own.''

Whatever cosmic or pedestrian role they might play, Sea-Monkeys have certainly had their share of fans over the years.

George Atamian of Carson, Calif., estimates that 10 billion Sea-Monkeys have been sold since 1960. He bases that estimate on 100 Sea-Monkeys to a set, and 100 million sets sold. Atamian, a former New Hartford resident and co-founder of the Talcott Mountain Science Center, is president of the Sea-Monkey division of ExploraToy, which now owns the franchise.

How to account for their enduring appeal? Nostalgia: Those of us humans who turned 40 or older ourselves this year are always trying to recapture the simple pleasures of our youth. Sea-Monkeys are cheaper and easier to find than, say, black-and-white TV sets with big knobs.

The Gadgets: No matter how you feel about them once you've filled them, you can't deny the streamlined beauty of the plastic Sea-Monkey tanks. The simple ones are best, but variations such as this year's Space Shuttle tank are fun, too.

The Dupe Factor: Once taken in by a product's false allure, the average human can't wait to inflict the same searing disappointment on a fellow human being.

Economy: Sets don't cost 49 cents anymore, but you can still pick up a basic Sea-Monkey kit for $6.95 -- with a two-year guarantee.

The Geek Factor: So nerdy they're cool.

Educational Value: There are those who insist that Sea-Monkeys constitute legitimate science projects. Whatever. It's hard to argue, though, because Sea-Monkeys actually went on the space shuttle with John Glenn.

The Inherent Urge to Create Life: The safest of safe sex.

The Equally Inherent Urge To Give Mothers Just One More Thing To Attend To: Long after the initial spark of interest subsides, Mom's the one aerating the tank and sprinkling the powdered food. Kids couldn't care less if the Sea-Monkeys wither and die, but no Mom can stand to see it happen.